Southern Utah University

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Southern Utah University
Southern Utah University
Fall Semester 2025

Introduction to Philosophy (Face-to-Face)

PHIL 1000-04

Course: PHIL 1000-04
Credits: 3
Term: Fall Semester 2025
Department: FLPH
CRN: 30702

Course Description

This course will introduce some of the themes, works, figures, and topics in the Western philosophical tradition. It will explore questions involving value, human nature, knowledge, and rationality. (Fall, Spring) [Graded (Standard Letter)] Registration Restriction(s): Intensive English Program majors may not enroll General Education Category: Humanities

Required Texts

All readings for this course will be available electronically on our course Canvas page 

*Be sure you can access the text in class on the day it is being discussed 

Learning Outcomes

This course will meet several of SUU’s ‘Essential Learning Outcomes’, especially 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, & 11. For more info see: https://catalog.suu.edu/content.php?catoid=25&navoid=4671#elo

·Knowledge Development: Develop a sense of the different areas of inquiry that comprise the discipline of philosophy, e.g. the theory of reality, the theory of knowledge, the nature of the self and personal identity, the theory of morality, the nature of death and the afterlife, and more. (ELO 2, 4, 8, 11)

·Critical Reading: Develop the critical reading, textual analysis, and interpretive skills necessary to understand difficult texts (ELO 4, 8, 9)

·Real Application: Apply your understanding of philosophical theory to your life, your values, and your vision for your future (ELO 2, 6)

·Intellectual Virtues: Cultivate the set of intellectual virtues that are inherent to civil discourse, intellectual maturity, problem-solving, and self-knowledge. These might include: intellectual autonomy; intellectual curiosity; creative thinking; respectful discourse; rational argumentation; and more (ELO 1, 3, 4, 6, 8).

·The Love of Learning: MOST IMPORTANTLY, come to love intellectual exploration, curiosity, and hanging out in that exhilarating space between confusion and rational conviction which is where philosophy makes its home 

Course Requirements

Assignments and Assessment 

Attendance, Participation, and Professionalism (20%)

In this class you are held to a standard of professional conduct relative to your position as students. This means that you will come to class having done the relevant preparatory work (usually reading the assigned texts), which will allow you to be an engaged and active member of the learning experience. This might involve participating directly in discussion, either whole-class or small group Where this is something you are not comfortable with, being active might involve demonstrating that you are an engaged listener. It is also expected that you will turn in work on the day that it is due; complete short in-class assignments; and communicate with me about any problems you might be having with the course so that we can work together towards a satisfactory solution that will help you get back on track (I try to be quite responsive over email, so please do not hesitate to reach out). Meeting these standards of professionalism will help the class run smoothly and will promise that we will get a lot out of our time together. To get you in the professional headspace I have in mind, here are some examples of unprofessional classroom behavior:  

·        Excessive absences from class

·        Routinely coming late to class

·        Failure to bring the text to class when you’ve been instructed to do so  

·        Coming to class without having done the reading

·        Texting in class (just don’t) 

·        Using your devices for any purpose other than something related to our course  

·        Talking to your neighbor while the instructor or a classmate is talking 

·        Failing to participate fairly in group work 

·        Failing to complete in-class assignments

Module Quizzes (30%)

At the end of Modules 2 – 5 there will be a 12-15-question quiz. The quizzes will consist of true/false, multiple choice, and short answer questions. The quiz may be given online OR in class. 

Pick a Philosopher (15%)

This assignment asks you to conduct a small amount of research on any philosopher of your choosing. There will be a question sheet that goes along with this assignment which asks you to answer questions as simple as ‘Where was the philosopher born?’ to slightly more complex questions like ‘What view or theory is the philosopher most known for?’ and ‘Do you agree with the philosopher’s most famous theory?’ 

*Bonus points will be awarded to students who either find a more obscure philosopher or who make a creative choice in the person they designate as a philosopher (i.e. someone might come to mind who you wish to identity as a philosopher, even if they historically were not identified that way). 

Philosophical Observations from the Wild (10%)

This short assignment asks you to report on an instance where you observed philosophy in the wild (i.e. the real world, your life!). This can take the form of hearing a person make a philosophical claim in another class, in the dining hall, at your job; reading a popular article or social media post where someone seemed to be making a philosophical claim; watching a show/TV where some philosophical lesson was being taught; hearing a song with philosophical lyrics; and so on. 

Other details:

· You will complete three observations throughout the semester: the first is due by Week 4; the second is due by Week 9; the third is due by Week 13. 

· There will be a template for this assignment that will be posted on Canvas. It will consist of four questions, and your answers to each question cannot be longer than 1 sentence; and no run-on sentences 

o   Each observation will be graded on a 4-point scale. Any reasonable response will get 4 points. A response will receive only 2 points if it goes over 4 sentences, if it is unclear what the philosophical content of the observation is, or if it is superficial.

Final (not an exam) (25%) 

There are two options for the final: 

· You can write a mini (~2-page) argumentative essay about one of the readings from the semester consisting of a brief introduction with thesis statement; brief explanation of the reading you will discuss; and then your critical argument about some aspect of the reading 

· You can conduct a philosophical interview with a friend, family member, roommate, co-worker, and so on in which you (a) ask them a set of philosophical questions and record their answers (in your own words) and then (b) write a ~300-word reflection on the experience  

Course Outline

Module 1 – What is Philosophy?
Jana Mohr Lone, ‘Philosophical Inquiry in Childhood’ & read one interview from the website: What is it like to be a philosopher? https://www.whatisitliketobeaphilosopher.com/     
David R. Morrow, Chapters 2 & 3 of Giving Reasons (‘Justification’; ‘Reasoning’)
Plato, The Apology (p. 1-16)

Module 2 – Big Questions: Reality, Knowledge, Mind, and Morality 
Addison Ellis, ‘Idealism Pt. 1: Berkeley’s Subjective Idealism’
Jared Millson, ‘Conspiracy Theories’ 
Jacob Berger, ‘The Mind-Body Problem: What are Minds?’ 
Peter Singer, ‘Famine, Affluence, and Morality

Interlude – Why Studying Philosophy Might Matter for your Life
Bertrand Russell, ‘The Value of Philosophy’
‘Who Studies Philosophy?’ & ‘The Uses of Philosophy’ + read the interviews with former philosophy majors on Canvas 

Module 3 – Freedom, Responsibility, and Character
Chelsea Haramia, ‘Free Will and Moral Responsibility’ 
Arthur Schopenhauer, ‘Acquired Character’

Module 4 – Duty, Friendship, and Meaningfulness      
Andrew Chapman, ‘Deontology: Kantian Ethics’ 
Isserow, ‘On Having Bad Persons as Friends’ 
Susan Wolf, ‘The Meanings of Lives’ 

Module 5 – Philosophy of Love: Human & Robot   
Eleonore Stump, ‘Love, by All Accounts’
Sven Nyholm & Eva Frank, ‘From Sex Robots to Love Robots: Is Mutual Love with a Robot Possible?’

Instructor's policies on late assignments and/or makeup work


Late work 

Life happens. It is fine to turn in work late provided you communicate with me in a timely fashion about your situation and whatever predicament kept you from completing your work on time. This is a bit of professional conduct that I expect from you. Though of course exceptions can be made in certain emergency situations, in general I ask that you keep an open line of communication with me regarding any matters that are interfering with your ability to complete the work for our course. If you have not communicated with me about what is going on with you, and then work comes in late, it will be graded accordingly. 

Late writing assignments: I have no hard and fast policy on how much your grade on a writing assignment will suffer if it is late, though the longer you go without turning it in, the more likely I am to penalize the assignment in some respect. The key is that you communicate with me in a timely fashion about any problems you might have with turning your work in on time. 

Attendance Policy

Attending and being absent from class 

Philosophical thinking blossoms and thrives in conversation, and the classroom is where this happens. Thus, I expect you to come to class; this is part of your professionalism grade. That said, here’s my full attendance policy. 

You can miss four classes without it having any technical negative impact on your grade (I say ‘technical’ because of course missing classes may put you behind in other ways, like understanding the material based on discussion, rather than merely reading the text). As far as these four absences are concerned, it does not matter to me whether you are missing class with a documented illness/injury, a family emergency, or simply because you feel like sleeping in. Because of the equivalency of these four acceptable absences (meaning, they have no technical negative impact on your grade), you do not need to communicate with me about them. In fact, I will take communication of this kind as you trying to make an exception for yourself, as if you are hoping to save an acceptable absence for later by sending me a message about an absence that would count as one of your acceptable four. After you have missed four classes, you lose a full letter grade on your full-semester professionalism grade until that grade reaches an F. Say you miss four classes, but at the time of your 4th absence your professionalism grade is an A. The next class you miss, it goes down to a B; the next class, a C; etc.

The rationale for this policy is this: It is unprofessional to sign-up for a class which you intend to miss more than four meetings of; and it makes even less sense to sign-up for a class which you plan to miss eight meetings of (that’s nearly 20% of the course!). 

‘But I missed four classes and now I am sick/have a family emergency’! Right! This happens! And because it happens, you should think carefully about using your 4 acceptable absences. Now of course, things happen, and so exceptions may be granted to this policy in certain situations. If you find yourself in that situation, please do not hesitate to communicate with me. But, for example, ‘work scheduled me for class time’ is not an excuse after your 4th absence; neither is ‘I didn’t hear my alarm go off’ or ‘I was up late studying’. 

ADA Statement

Students with medical, psychological, learning, or other disabilities desiring academic adjustments, accommodations, or auxiliary aids will need to contact the Disability Resource Center, located in Room 206F of the Sharwan Smith Center or by phone at (435) 865-8042. The Disability Resource Center determines eligibility for and authorizes the provision of services.

If your instructor requires attendance, you may need to seek an ADA accommodation to request an exception to this attendance policy. Please contact the Disability Resource Center to determine what, if any, ADA accommodations are reasonable and appropriate.

Academic Credit

According to the federal definition of a Carnegie credit hour: A credit hour of work is the equivalent of approximately 60 minutes of class time or independent study work. A minimum of 45 hours of work by each student is required for each unit of credit. Credit is earned only when course requirements are met. One (1) credit hour is equivalent to 15 contact hours of lecture, discussion, testing, evaluation, or seminar, as well as 30 hours of student homework. An equivalent amount of work is expected for laboratory work, internships, practica, studio, and other academic work leading to the awarding of credit hours. Credit granted for individual courses, labs, or studio classes ranges from 0.5 to 15 credit hours per semester.

Academic Freedom

SUU is operated for the common good of the greater community it serves. The common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition. Academic Freedom is the right of faculty to study, discuss, investigate, teach, and publish. Academic Freedom is essential to these purposes and applies to both teaching and research.

Academic Freedom in the realm of teaching is fundamental for the protection of the rights of the faculty member and of you, the student, with respect to the free pursuit of learning and discovery. Faculty members possess the right to full freedom in the classroom in discussing their subjects. They may present any controversial material relevant to their courses and their intended learning outcomes, but they shall take care not to introduce into their teaching controversial materials which have no relation to the subject being taught or the intended learning outcomes for the course.

As such, students enrolled in any course at SUU may encounter topics, perspectives, and ideas that are unfamiliar or controversial, with the educational intent of providing a meaningful learning environment that fosters your growth and development. These parameters related to Academic Freedom are included in SUU Policy 6.6.

Academic Misconduct

Scholastic honesty is expected of all students. Dishonesty will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent (see SUU Policy 6.33). You are expected to have read and understood the current SUU student conduct code (SUU Policy 11.2) regarding student responsibilities and rights, the intellectual property policy (SUU Policy 5.52), information about procedures, and what constitutes acceptable behavior.

Please Note: The use of websites or services that sell essays is a violation of these policies; likewise, the use of websites or services that provide answers to assignments, quizzes, or tests is also a violation of these policies. Regarding the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), you should check with your individual course instructor.

Emergency Management Statement

In case of an emergency, the University's Emergency Notification System (ENS) will be activated. Students are encouraged to maintain updated contact information using the link on the homepage of the mySUU portal. In addition, students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Emergency Response Protocols posted in each classroom. Detailed information about the University's emergency management plan can be found at https://www.suu.edu/emergency.

HEOA Compliance Statement

For a full set of Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) compliance statements, please visit https://www.suu.edu/heoa. The sharing of copyrighted material through peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, except as provided under U.S. copyright law, is prohibited by law; additional information can be found at https://my.suu.edu/help/article/1096/heoa-compliance-plan.

You are also expected to comply with policies regarding intellectual property (SUU Policy 5.52) and copyright (SUU Policy 5.54).

Mandatory Reporting

University policy (SUU Policy 5.60) requires instructors to report disclosures received from students that indicate they have been subjected to sexual misconduct/harassment. The University defines sexual harassment consistent with Federal Regulations (34 C.F.R. Part 106, Subpart D) to include quid pro quo, hostile environment harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. When students communicate this information to an instructor in-person, by email, or within writing assignments, the instructor will report that to the Title IX Coordinator to ensure students receive support from the Title IX Office. A reporting form is available at https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?SouthernUtahUniv

Non-Discrimination Statement

SUU is committed to fostering an inclusive community of lifelong learners and believes our university's encompassing of different views, beliefs, and identities makes us stronger, more innovative, and better prepared for the global society.

SUU does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex (including sex discrimination and sexual harassment), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ancestry, disability status, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, genetic information, military status, veteran status, or other bases protected by applicable law in employment, treatment, admission, access to educational programs and activities, or other University benefits or services.

SUU strives to cultivate a campus environment that encourages freedom of expression from diverse viewpoints. We encourage all to dialogue within a spirit of respect, civility, and decency.

For additional information on non-discrimination, please see SUU Policy 5.27 and/or visit https://www.suu.edu/nondiscrimination.

Pregnancy

Students who are or become pregnant during this course may receive reasonable modifications to facilitate continued access and participation in the course. Pregnancy and related conditions are broadly defined to include pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, lactation, related medical conditions, and recovery. To obtain reasonable modifications, please make a request to title9@suu.edu. To learn more visit: https://www.suu.edu/titleix/pregnancy.html.

Disclaimer Statement

Information contained in this syllabus, other than the grading, late assignments, makeup work, and attendance policies, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.